Australian Mining speaks to Laura Tyler
Pictured: Conference keynote speaker Laura Tyler FAusIMM (CP)
Underground Operators Conference keynote speaker Laura Tyler has made innovation her bread and butter.
As ore grades reduce and underground mines get deeper, the need for innovative underground practices has never been more important.
Adriatic Metals chief executive officer and managing director Laura Tyler has over three decades of experience in the underground mining sector and knows the industry’s recent challenges and triumphs first-hand.
That’s why Tyler has signed on to make a keynote speech at AusIMM’s upcoming Underground Operators Conference (UgOps 2025), held in Adelaide from April 7–9.
“Underground Operators is a great opportunity for people to come together, share ideas, do things differently, and really learn from each other,” Tyler told Australian Mining.
“Being able to discuss ideas and make sure we deliver safer, more productive operations with the right technologies and innovation is an amazing opportunity.”
UgOps 2025 will be a meeting place for leaders from across the globe, keen to discuss not only the Australian underground mining sector but also operations across the world.
“We only learn by taking a global view,” Tyler said. “We need to be looking at what’s being tested and tried in every corner of the world and what we can learn from those operations and vice versa.
“Australia sits in a global commodity market, and we must be able to compete. To be able to compete means we must constantly strive to be better.”
Tyler is one of three keynote speakers taking the stage at UgOps 2025. She will be joined by Vale Base Metals chair Mark Cutifani and resolution88 director and principal Bruce Harvey.
“There’s something for everyone in the 2025 conference program,” Tyler said. “Whether you’re interested in the geotechnical aspect of the sector, or if you’re more into the safety and sustainability side, you’ll find something that peaks your interest.”
UgOps 2025 will be feature over 30 technical presentations and a dynamic panel discussion covering the key conference themes from technology and innovation to the journey towards net-zero.
“UgOps is a conference where, after you’ve come together to share ideas, you can take those ideas back to your operation and implement them,” Tyler said.
“Within an underground operation, everyone works together from the operator to the technician. We have to work together to deliver safe and predictable operations.
“So when we look at who should attend UgOps, it has to be a full range of people that all contribute to the diversity of ideas that can help solve challenges and open up opportunities for new orebodies.”
UgOps 2025 will cover a wide range of topics, from health and safety to the global decarbonisation journey, with Adelaide providing the perfect backdrop.
“Australia is a mature mining environment,” Tyler said. “There’s a need to not only embrace technologies to find orebodies, but to also embrace technologies to extract them, because they will be undercover, they will be at depth, and they will be more difficult to reach.
“Environmentally, we also must be able to make sure that we’re minimising our footprint and committing to net-zero operations.
“These are the things that allow us to have community engagement from the broader Australian underground mining population. Every little bit matters.”
Underground Operators 2025 will be held from April 7–9 at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
This feature appeared in the March 2025 issue of Australian Mining.